Game of Numbers #23 – How USA unravelled Vietnam’s marking at the World Cup

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As the opening round of Women’s World Cup fixtures comes to a close, I take a look at some of the tactical implications from the first set of matches.

The United States were always set to have one of the most impressive performances of the opening round. But they impressed with their tactical nuances as much as their individual star power. Here is our first edition of Game of Numbers across the 2023 Women’s World Cup, with how the States used positional rotations to unravel Vietnam’s defense.

USA’S POSITIONAL ROTATIONS

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Vlatko Andonovski’s side entered the opening round of fixtures as favourites for the tournament and favourites to achieve an easy win. Vietnam made things more difficult for the States than the nation’s opening match of 2019 against Thailand, but were often pulled apart through their tight ‘woman-to-woman’ marking scheme.

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As the States stretched play wide and continuously had players like Horan and DeMelo shifting wide, spaces continuously opened through the centre of the pitch. Alex Morgan used those spaces to her advantage in dropping deep to receive, where she combined excellently for Sophia Smith on the first goal. But she also smartly used her positioning in between defenders to receive through passes in behind Vietnam’s defense, where the tight marking scheme again unravelled due to a diffusion of responsibility.

One of the most intriguing aspects came down to ever so-slight positional rotations between the full-backs and wide central midfielders. Emily Fox is a player that likes to play in central channels and cross the ball from deep positions, and this suited her game well. Savannah DeMelo could then drop wide to pull her marking player out of position, helping to create more opportunities for someone like Rodman to receive over the top of the defense.

One of these rotations presented that beautiful chance for Lindsey Horan at the start of the second half, where DeMelo received wide in an overload with Rodman, as Fox surged through the half-space.

On the other side, Lindsey Horan would often drop to the left of the two centre-backs, with Crystal Dunn remaining high and wide.

Not exactly a positional rotation, but one that meant Sophia Smith could then receive in central channels, closer to Alex Morgan. This is again how USA uncarved Vietnam so nicely through the centre of the pitch, with Horan dropping wide to play that progressive pass, and Morgan nicely playing the foil for Sophia Smith.

RELATED: The art of dismarking

On both the first and third goals, it’s also worth noting how they unravelled that tight marking by having several players come toward the ball. This made it look as though they would play neat and tidy combinations through short passes. But instead, the movement toward the ball served as a ploy to play the ball into space over the top.

For all the coaches out there, it’s worth noting that this is a wonderful way to unbalance a “man-marking” system, where each defender latches onto one attacker for the duration of the game. If your attackers are constantly on the move, rotating positions and injecting variety into their movement patterns, it becomes extremely difficult for the opposition to react. Taking that one step further, you want to attract the defense to shift in the exact opposite way from your true intentions, and this is what the USA did so incredibly well in their opening match.

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For more Women’s World Cup analysis, check out my Patreon, where I took an in-depth look at how Ireland used their physicality and transitional game to win set-pieces; and New Zealand’s dominance over Norway.

Also be sure to check out more on positional play, positional rotation, and how to unbalance tight marking schemes:

-> Game of Numbers #12 – Erik Ten Hag’s Positional Play Masterclass
-> Conceptualizing positional play, positional rotation and positional interchange
-> How Southampton used positional automatisms to beat Man United

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